incremental-test

name	incremental-test
description	Run dotnet.Tests incrementally without a full build.cmd rebuild. Use after modifying source code in SDK projects to quickly build only changed projects, deploy their outputs into the redist SDK layout, and run tests against them.

Incremental Test Runner for dotnet.Tests

Prerequisites

• A full build must have been completed at least once (via build.cmd or build.sh) so that the redist SDK layout exists at artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\<version>\.
• The repo-local .dotnet SDK must match the version expected by the test projects. If the runtime or SDK version is out of date (e.g., test build fails with a missing framework error), run .\restore.cmd (or ./restore.sh on macOS/Linux) to download the correct SDK into .dotnet.
• This workflow uses Windows/PowerShell commands and paths. On macOS/Linux, substitute forward slashes and use cp instead of Copy-Item.

Workflow

Step 1: Identify modified projects

Determine which projects have been modified. Use context from:

• The files you just edited in this session.
• Or git status/git diff to find changed .cs files and map them to their .csproj projects.

Step 2: Build modified projects

Build each modified project individually using the repo-local dotnet:

.\.dotnet\dotnet build <path-to-project.csproj> -c Debug

For example:

.\.dotnet\dotnet build src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils.csproj -c Debug

If the dotnet CLI project itself was modified, build it:

.\.dotnet\dotnet build src\Cli\dotnet\dotnet.csproj -c Debug

Step 3: Copy output DLLs to the redist SDK layout

Discover the SDK version directory name:

$sdkVersion = (Get-ChildItem artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk -Directory | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 1).Name

For each modified project, copy its output DLL (and any satellite assemblies) from the project's build output to the redist SDK directory:

Source: artifacts\bin\<ProjectName>\Debug\net10.0\<AssemblyName>.dll
Target: artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\<version>\

For example:

Copy-Item artifacts\bin\Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools\Debug\net10.0\Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools.dll artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\$sdkVersion\
Copy-Item artifacts\bin\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils\Debug\net10.0\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils.dll artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\$sdkVersion\

The dotnet project is special — it builds into artifacts\bin\dotnet\Debug\net10.0\ and its dotnet.dll must be copied to the SDK directory:

Copy-Item artifacts\bin\dotnet\Debug\net10.0\dotnet.dll artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\$sdkVersion\

Important notes:

• For typical incremental edits, only copy DLLs that are already present in the target directory. If your change introduces a new shipped assembly or moves assemblies, you will need a full build.cmd/build.sh to update the layout correctly.
• Some projects multi-target (e.g., net10.0 and net472). Always use the net10.0 output.
• If localization resource DLLs were changed (in subdirectories like cs\, de\, etc.), copy those too.

Step 4: Build the test project (if test code was modified)

The test project test\dotnet.Tests\dotnet.Tests.csproj outputs directly to artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\ (via TestHostFolder), so just build it:

.\.dotnet\dotnet build test\dotnet.Tests\dotnet.Tests.csproj

Step 5: Run the tests

Run specific tests:

.\.dotnet\dotnet exec artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet.Tests.dll -method "*TestMethodName*"

Or run filtered tests via dotnet test:

.\.dotnet\dotnet test test\dotnet.Tests\dotnet.Tests.csproj --no-build --filter "Name~TestMethodName"

Common project paths

Assembly	Project Path
dotnet.dll	src\Cli\dotnet\dotnet.csproj
Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils.dll	src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils.csproj
Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Definitions.dll	src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Definitions\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Definitions.csproj
Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.CoreUtils.dll	src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.CoreUtils\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.CoreUtils.csproj
Microsoft.DotNet.Configurer.dll	src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Configurer\Microsoft.DotNet.Configurer.csproj
Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools.dll	src\Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools\Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools.csproj
Microsoft.DotNet.NativeWrapper.dll	src\Resolvers\Microsoft.DotNet.NativeWrapper\Microsoft.DotNet.NativeWrapper.csproj
Microsoft.DotNet.TemplateLocator.dll	src\Microsoft.DotNet.TemplateLocator\Microsoft.DotNet.TemplateLocator.csproj
Microsoft.DotNet.InternalAbstractions.dll	src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.InternalAbstractions\Microsoft.DotNet.InternalAbstractions.csproj
dotnet.Tests.dll	test\dotnet.Tests\dotnet.Tests.csproj